Qwiki

I have just discovered Qwiki although its been around for over 12 months.Its a website and ipad app that provides an interactive wiki experience.There are over 3 million topics that run for about 2 minutes each, all with pictures, text and infographics.
Qwiki was recently recognised by Apple as the 2011 iPad App of the Year in the "Search and Reference" category.
Its easy to use.You just enter a topic in its search bar and it finds the most relevant page where you can listen to the text-to -speech generated audio and picture slides.

If you are looking for an interactive medium for your students I suggest you have a play with this useful tool.
For more info watch the video below:


Qwiki Alumni Update at TechCrunch Disrupt SF, 2011 from Qwiki on Vimeo.

Teaching Channel Videos

I thought that it would be worth re- acquainting you with  Teaching Channel  now that we are thinking about Professional Learning Projects again.There are so many excellent videos on this professional learning site and I'm sure some of them will hit the mark.Take a look at the index on the home page to see what's on offer. The videos below cover student feedback to improve teaching practice and differentiation in the classroom.

Top Tools For Learning

Here are the most current Top 100 Tools for Learning  from the Centre for Learning and Performance Technology (UK).It was finalised in November 2011 and is compiled from the top 10 tools lists of 531 learning professionals worldwide.It's interestting to see that the presentation tool Prezi is in the top 10.This term Faye Kennedy with Annette's guidance and technical support, has introduced her  Year 10 English students to Prezi. They have taken to it like ducks to water.

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2011

Well Done Barry!

Over the last 12 months, thousands of Australians have voted on the ABC website  or at their local library for a book that could best  represent their state or territory during the 2012 National Year of Reading.The Victorian winner was Barry Heard's "Well Done Those Men". It's thrilling to think that Barry is a local. He  was raised in Swift's Creek and now lives in Bairnsdale.Many of you will be familiar with "Well Done Those Men" that attempts to make sense of what Vietnam did to the soldiers who fought there. We are hoping to have Barry visit our school  this year as part of the National Year of Reading celebration.Stay tuned!







2012 National Year of Reading

The 2012 National Year of Reading Project was launched last week across Australia.


Did you know that 46% of our adult Australian population can not read well enough to understand recipes, timetables, manuals and newspapers?

This alarming statistic (2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey) was behind the NYR, a collaborative project supported by libraries and community groups around Australia.With a year long program of events and activites planned, it is hoped that all Australians will discover or rediscover the joy of reading.
To further promote our strong culture of reading at Garnsey campus, our ISC staff have a range of activities planned for the year.On Thursday 23rd Feb we are very fortunate to have reading promotion expert Henk Krama(Netherlands) presenting at the National Reading Forum in Sale. Henk will provide us with inspiration and ideas on how to further build our reading culture.
Watch the video below to hear how Julia Gillard hopes that we can become a "reading nation" in the future.

Welcome Year 7's

It's been a busy week welcoming our new Year 7 classes to the ISC and its services this week. Our three session "Ripping into Research" Program was action packed and included this year a Cybersmart social networking online activity.Students enjoyed this activity and it created some great conversations about cybersafety. We now look forward to working closely with each class throughout the year.

Future Trends in Education

In past posts I have reported about the annual Horizon Reports that predict emerging technology trends in the education sector.The New Media Consortium Horizon Project which is responsible for the Horizon Reports have just celebrated their 10th anniversary.Over its decade of work,The Horizon Project has become the single most important body of research into emerging technology within the educational world.It celebrated its decade at a retreat where 100 thought leaders from around the world identified metatrends and actions.
Out of their discussions, the 10 most significant  trends are listed below:

Horizon Project 10th Anniversary Report:


1. The world of work is increasingly global and increasingly collaborative.
2. People expect to work, learn, socialize, and play whenever and wherever they want to.
3. The Internet is becoming a global mobile network — and already is at its edges.

4. The technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based and delivered over utility networks, facilitating the rapid growth of online videos and rich media.
5. Openness — concepts like open content, open data, and open resources, along with notions of transparency and easy access to data and information — is moving from a trend to a value for much of the world. .

6. Legal notions of ownership and privacy lag behind the practices common in society.
7. Real challenges of access, efficiency, and scale are redefining what we mean by quality and success.
8. The Internet is constantly challenging us to rethink learning and education, while refining our notion of literacy.

9. There is a rise in informal learning as individual needs are redefining schools, universities, and training.

10. Business models across the education ecosystem are changing.
These metatrends are the first of much yet to come in the next year. Watch NMC.org for news and more throughout the Horizon Project’s 10th Anniversary.
Related articles
 What is the Future of Education
Mindshift: What Will We Learn

Welcome

Welcome back to the "In The Know" blog which has had a short hiatus whilst I was on LSL. I had a fabulous break, feel re-energised and I look forward to the new academic year.

After returning from Spain and France I spent about a week sorting through my many digital photos and created a photo book  using the online publishing service called blurb.This is now my third book and there are others in the pipeline.Creating these books doesn't require too many technical skills, is affordable and the books created are wonderful keepsakes of your life experiences.If you would like to know more about how to go about creating them ,you just need to ask or click on the link below.

France and Spain 2011 by Marianne Lee

Make Your Own Book

No doubt this year will bring many challenges,changes and exciting times for the ISC  as it continues to adapt to our changing world.Through our involvement in eSupport,eSmart,traditional information literacy programs and online platforms we will endeavour to support  the learning and teaching needs of our students and teachers in a digital world.